The government has fast-tracked its plan to create a Kalimpong
district, appearing to keep on hold measures to carve out four other
districts announced earlier, the choice signalling an intent to fulfil a
promise and build infrastructure before the panchayat and municipal
elections in the Darjeeling hills early next year.

At a meeting in Nabanna yesterday, finance secretary H.K. Dwivedi is
believed to have told engineers that the government would implement its
infrastructure development plans for Kalimpong on a war footing. The
government had announced its plan to carve out the districts of Asansol,
Jhargram, Sunderbans and Basirhat before it made public its decision to
create the Kalimpong district.

Trinamul has been making inroads into the Darjeeling hills while the
Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's performance in the Assembly elections earlier
this year suggests that its support base may be eroding. The hill
party's vote share in the Assembly elections dropped by 67 per cent in
comparison with the 2011 polls.

On the other hand, the government's move to create development bodies
for various hill communities has helped Trinamul get a toehold in the
hills. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is reported to be keen on
elections to the two-tier panchayats and the four municipalities of
Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Mirik as soon as possible to cash in
on the gains. The last time rural elections were held in the Darjeeling
hills was in 2000.

Government sources said if the promise of creating the Kalimpong
district could be fulfilled soon and allied infrastructure put in place,
it would boost the chances of the ruling party in the elections. A good
showing in the rural and municipal polls, which could be held in
February, would stand Trinamul in good stead in the Gorkhaland
Territorial Administration elections, scheduled to be held in July. The
Morcha's hegemony in the GTA has been unchallenged so far.

The proposals to create the districts of Kalimpong, Asansol and
Jhargram are awaiting the clearance of Calcutta High Court. The
government is yet to seek permission for the formation of the Sunderbans
and Basirhat districts.

The sources said the government's eagerness to get off the blocks as
soon as it can on Kalimpong even though the court's nod is awaited
pointed to Trinamul's plan to strike when the iron is hot.

"As Trinamul has been focusing on emerging as a force in the hills
and end the monopoly of the Morcha, the creation of the Kalimpong
district has become crucial to the ruling establishment," an official
said.

When the district is created, it will have its own headquarters and residents will no longer have to travel to Darjeeling town.

"Travelling in the hills is costly. If the district headquarters are
set up in Kalimpong before the elections, people could lean towards the
chief minister," another official said.

That Mamata was aware of the local sentiments became clear when she
announced during a visit to Kalimpong in September that the credit for
creating the new district would go to her government alone.

Sources said the chief minister made the comment to counter hill
leader Harka Bahadur Chhetri's claim that he was the first to demand the
new district. Chhetri, who was the Kalimpong MLA, quit the Morcha
before the Assembly elections and floated a party that supported
Trinamul in the polls but later ran afoul of the ruling establishment.

"Developing infrastructure for setting up a new district is a huge
task and involves crores of rupees. It appears that the government wants
to start work on infrastructure projects before the local elections
even if the new district cannot be made functional by then," a finance
department official said.

To convert a sub-division into a district, the sub-divisional court
has to be converted into a district court and the sub-divisional
officer's office has to be upgraded to a district magistrate's
establishment. In the blocks and sub-divisions that the new district
will have, administrative infrastructure, including offices and
residences for SDOs and BDOs, have to be built.

"The entire infrastructure could be ready by June if work starts now.
It is clear that the government wants to showcase the work it has done
to create the Kalimpong district when the elections are held in
February," a source said.

"If we win some seats in the rural polls, we will be able to put up a
strong fight in the GTA elections, which will put an end to the
Morcha's dominance," a minister said.

A section of government officials said that ideally, the Asansol
district, which will be named Burdwan Industrial, should have been the
first district to be carved out.

"The main idea behind creating a district is that it helps the
administration to monitor government projects and law and order better.
Going by that logic, Burdwan should have been split first because it is a
much bigger district than Darjeeling and West Midnapore," an official
said.(TT)

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The government has fast-tracked its plan to create a Kalimpong district, appearing to keep on hold measures to carve out four other districts announced earlier, the choice signalling an intent to fulfil a promise and build infrastructure before the panchayat and municipal elections in the Darjeeling hills early next year.